The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) will establish an “Intelligent Futures Hub” at a UP building in New Clark City (NCC) in Tarlac, while keeping its headquarters in Laguna.
An earlier report said the UPOU headquarters would be transferred to the 9,450-hectare NCC, which is envisioned as an “alternative” government center and touted as a “smart, green and resilient” city.
“The headquarters of UP Open University shall remain in Barangay Maahas, Los Baños, Laguna,” said its chancellor, Joane V. Serrano. It is located beside the International Rice Research Institute along the national highway and adjacent to UP Los Baños.
“In addition to housing its administrative offices, the headquarters has recently expanded with new facilities that support research in immersive learning and sustainability, as well as multimedia production studios and venues for conferences and other academic events,” Serrano said last March 30.
Convention Center
She was referring to the Teaching and Learning Hub building that was completed in 2024 and the International Convention Center (ICC) that hosted its first major event on Dec. 6, 2025 — the 29th commencement exercises. The ICC is designed as a hub for global conferences on open and distance learning.
The UPOU chancellor was responding to questions that coverstory.ph emailed to her on March 24, two days after the digital magazine reported that the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) had set aside land in NCC for six state-run schools, including UPOU.
The BCDA, which administers NCC, has said that UPOU will be operating on the 3.4 ha lot for a UP satellite campus. The UP main campus has been allotted 70 ha.
“When we asked the [UP System] about courses that would be offered, they said, ‘Open University will mainly operate on the UP satellite campus,”’ Mike Ramos of the BCDA Master Planning Division said at a briefing in early March at the Filinvest Innovation Park building in NCC.
In 2022, then UP President Danilo Concepcion and Vice President for development Elvira Zamora said at the laying of the time capsule for the UP NCC complex that UP NCC was designed to be the main headquarters of the UPOU.
It would also host the satellite sites of the UP Manila Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the National Institutes of Health and the College of Medicine, and the UP Diliman College of Engineering, they said.
Building unfinished
The construction of the building is unfinished. Phase 1 was allotted P157 million and Phase 2 was estimated to cost P100 million.
UPOU operations in NCC were expected to start in 2027 or 2028, but the UP System encountered problems in budgeting and construction because of the flood control scandal, according to Ramos.
The infrastructure mess resulted in some officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), lawmakers and contractors being charged with graft, and in the DPWH budget being cut down. The DPWH is UP’s implementing agency for the construction.
Going forward, the Open University in NCC is expected to be an AI-ready hub for distance e-learning for schools in central and northern Luzon.
The UPOU Intelligent Futures Hub is envisioned as “an AI-ready, digitally resilient space,” Chancellor Serrano said.
“Committed to expanding access to its programs and services nationwide, UPOU will use the NCC building as a zonal center to strengthen outreach in open and distance e-learning for educational institutions in the northern provinces,” she said.
Republic Act No. 10650 (Open Distance Learning Law) mandates UPOU with assisting national agencies, higher education institutions, and technical and vocational institutions in developing and improving their distance education programs through training, technical assistance, research and other academic programs.
Lodging for faculty, staff, visitors
Serrano said the UPOU Intelligent Futures would feature the following:
– A 300-seat auditorium with hybrid AV capabilities for conferences, seminars, and workshops
– Gallery spaces for academic and creative works
– Flexible collaboration areas
– Accommodations for faculty, staff and visitors
“It will also incorporate smart, automated systems, with high-speed networks, integrated AV and control systems, sensor-enabled operations, centralized monitoring, and AI-driven cybersecurity to ensure secure, efficient, and responsive management,” Serrano said.
Other state-run schools that have been allotted land in NCC are Technological University of the Philippines, 10 ha; Polytechnic University of the Philippines, 7.5 ha; Philippine Science High School, 4.6 ha; and, the National Academy of Sports, 5.9 ha.
Related: Six state-run schools assigned land in 9,450-hectare ‘smart, green and resilient’ city
Asked if there was a timetable for UPOU to transfer to the NCC, Serrano said: “UPOU is currently working with the UP Office of the Vice President for Development on planning the interiors of the building to accommodate these functions.”
Pioneer
Established on Feb. 23, 1995, UPOU pioneered online teaching and learning in the Philippines, and aspires to be “a leader in teaching and learning in the digital age, helping to equip Filipinos with the knowledge and skills they need for life and work in the 21st century.”
It offers degree programs in the undergraduate and graduate levels in education, information and communication studies, and management and development studies.
Serrano said the establishment of the UPOU Intelligent Futures Hub will complement UPOU’s operations in Los Baños, where most of the academic and administrative work will still be based.
“The NCC facility will enable UPOU to build stronger infrastructure for digital resiliency, particularly during times of disasters, as well as leverage AI-enabled systems for intelligent automation, real-time data processing, and enhanced user experience to ensure future-ready and technology-driven learning environments,” she said.
UPOU students, who hail from across the Philippines and from all four corners of the globe, meet in person, usually for the first time, during graduation at the UPOU headquarters in Los Baños.
Like other state colleges and universities, UPOU does not charge tuition for students taking up undergraduate degrees.
UPOU currently has 161 employees and 101 staff members on contract. CS
